This invention relates to methods for identifying persons or things and, more particularly, to such methods wherein the persons or things are provided with identification tags.
There exists a wide variety of applications for methods of identifying persons or objects. Inventory control is one of them. There are many reasons for providing an inventory list of articles owned or used by a particular business or individual. An accurate inventory provides management with information relating to the identification and location of its tangible assets or components that are used to produce its end products. An accurate list of these items is useful for determining property taxes, depreciation and the like for scheduling product maintenance and work loads as well as providing records for establishing claims for fire loss, theft or other causes.
Various methods of conducting inventory have been used in the past. They range from simple manual approaches to semiautomatic techniques using computerized data collection devices. One of the more sophisticated approaches employs the use of bar code tags or uniform product code (UPC) labels affixed to or adjacent to the goods which can be read with a bar code reader. One of the disadvantages wit this type of system, however, is that the bar code tag must be placed in a position that is easily accessible to the bar code reader and the reader must come within close proximity of the tag in order to sense the code thereon. Consequently, it is necessary for the operator to find the tag and, one found, to maneuver the reader to a position closely adjacent the tag in order to read the code. These requirements generally dictate that the tag must be mounted in a readily observable and accessible position. Even if these requirements are met, it still takes an appreciable amount of time for the operator to perform the data collection task since he is required to move very close to the object in order to perform the necessary operations.
Taking inventory of furniture, art objects or the like poses a special problem. For these aesthetic objects it is not desirable to place tags at points where they can be observed because doing so would destroy their aesthetic appearances. If conventional tags are placed at a hidden location, it becomes difficult for the person doing inventory to find the tags and, once found, it can be awkward to read them. Not only is this a problem when taking inventory of furniture and the like in an office building, it is also a problem for doing inventory of systems or modular components that can be assembled together to form a finished piece of furniture. Therefore, the aforementioned problem is also encountered in performing inventory of these items in a furniture manufacturer's warehousing facility.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, identification tags are mounted on objects or objects associated with persons. Unlike conventional identification tags, these tags have the capability of wirelessly transmitting identification codes associated with a particular object over a distance of at least one foot. In addition, location tags, also capable of wireless transmission, are mounted on fixed structures associated with a predefined space, such as adjacent the doorway of a room. The location tags are preprogrammed to contain a location code indicative of the predefined space or room and also preprogrammed to contain an association between the predefined space or room and the objects to be found within that space or room. In an inventory control application, the preprogramed or prestored association may be in the form of a master list containing the location code together with a list of the identification codes of objects to be found within that space or room. A portable, battery operated unit containing a pickup or sensor device is used to detect the transmitted codes from the identification and location tags.
The identification tags and location tags are both provided with random access memory capable of storing a great deal of useful information concerning the objects (or persons) within a predefined space or room, as well as information concerning the predefined space or room itself. The portable unit first downloads the location code which contains the preprogrammed association or master plan associated with the particular space or room. Having down loaded this information, the portable unit is then used to detect the identification tags of objects within the predefined space or room, with the preprogrammed association or master plan, now in the portable unit, being used as an automatic inventory checklist. If desired, the preprogrammed association may also cause the portable unit to provide visual or audible prompts to the operator, to remind the operator to check certain things within the space or room.
Since there is no need for the user to position the sensor very close to the tag, the tag can be placed at any convenient location on the object which may in fact be hidden from normal observation. Accordingly, the present invention finds particular utility in performing inventory control of furniture or other aesthetic objects since the tags can be hidden from sight thereby preserving their aesthetic appearances. Additionally, the data collection process for a plurality of different objects can be accomplished quite rapidly since the operator need not search and find the tags on the individual objects. Instead, all that the user needs to do is to position the sensor in the general location of the object since the tag will transmit its code over a considerable distance.
Preferably, the tag is of the type that transmits its code when energized by radio frequency (RF) energy. The portable unit employs a sensor in the form of an RF antenna for sending RF energy to energize the tags and for receiving the code signals from the tags. The unit further includes a reader for converting the received code signals into digital form and a digital data collection device with a memory coupled to the reader. The detected code signals can be used for a wide variety of purposes. In inventory control, the codes would be stored in memory whose contents can later be read out to provide an inventory list of detected items. According to a feature of this invention, the inventory control list can be generated by location in a building. This can be performed by mounting a tag adjacent to the entranceway or doorway of each room in a building. The operator would sense the code from the tag before entering the room which would identify all of the subsequently detected objects as being located in that room. In open plan office systems employing partitioned groups of modular furniture in an open room, the " location" tags can be affixed to reference points in the room defining particular areas therein.
The identification system of this invention can also be used for project scheduling or the like in which some work is to be performed on or in connection with a particular object or person. For example, individual patients in a health care facility or other institution can be provided with their own tags. The user would detect the code for each tag which would be fed into a programmable device having its own visual display. In response to the detected tag code, the programmable device would display certain information such as a readout of the description of the patient, or other suitable prompts. The user would perform the work and then enter a confirmation that the work had been performed thereby updating the data base. The programmable device would have a built-in timer so that it could record the time and date on which the work was performed. According to another aspect of the invention, the tag itself can be programmed with an updated code that when subsequently read would indicate the current status of the associated object or other pertinent information. This general concept can be extended to many other fields such as quality control, maintenance services, plant security and the like wherein a computerized system would display prompts or other information to the user in response to sensing the transmitted code from the tags.
Several advantages result from the inventive method whereby a preprogrammed association between objects and room or the master plan is stored in the random access memory of the location tags. In contrast to a centralized data base in which all information resides in a central computer, the inventive method distributes the information (contained in the location tags) throughout a building, where the information is less apt to be destroyed or tampered with. In addition, by storing the information about a particular space or room near that space or room, the responsibility for maintaining accurate records is more readily placed upon the person responsible for that space or room. Contrast this with a central data base where a keypunch operator not personally acquainted with a particular space or room is responsible for entering the information about that space or room into the central computer. Because of the keypunch operator's lack of familiarity with the particular space or room, keypunch errors are much more apt to occur and errors in inventory become more difficult to trace.